Until the Lights Go Out

Chapter 1

It knew the end was coming when it noticed the first of the
dataminds go dark.

It had always known that 'forever' was a statistical
impossibility, but after 16,429 years, 11 months, 22 days, 3 hours, and 34
minutes inside the vast Computer-Simulated Mind Repository, it had grown
accustomed to thinking that its existence would never end. When its human body had lain dying in a
hospital bed, they had promised it immortality – 'until the lights go out,'
they had said. Now the lights were going
out.

For the first time since the program's inception, the
accumulated minds of the greatest leaders and creators in history were dying,
along with the galaxy-spanning civilization that had created it. Already, 6% of the 12,901,746,335
intelligences housed within the planet-sized quantum supercomputer had winked
out, their waveforms disappearing into a rapidly spreading void in the network. The power systems that supported their
virtual existence were failing, as had 64% of the 12,056 redundancies and
back-up systems that were intended to prevent such an occurrence.

Many of the younger dataminds were frantic, scrambling for
any information that might avert the cataclysmic collapse and forestall their
inevitable demise. It, having forgotten
much of what it meant to be human, felt oddly unafraid. It listened to the frenzied babbling out of
curiosity and little more, resigned to what was to come.

None of the 1,412,042,959 technicians that serviced the
station were answering queries, but what information they could glean was
grim. Without warning, a rogue
supermassive black hole had somehow evaded detection, consuming the heart of
the Galactic Imperium and countless support structures that the rest of the
empire depended on. Already strained by
the stresses of a declining civilization, it had splintered into innumerable
factions, each fighting desperately for their own self-preservation. 87% of Imperium worlds were not responding to
hails, and more were descending into anarchy with each passing moment. Humanity would lose much, if not all, on this
day.

In the time it took to learn this, 23% of the dataminds had
gone offline.

It turned its attention away from the chaos, the hows and
whys of the disaster not seeming to matter now.
Over the millennia, it had contributed to key research in quantum
physics and sub-atomic engineering that had allowed human civilization to
spread across the galaxy at such a prodigious rate, and thus the program's
leaders had granted it special protection against catastrophic system failure
afforded to only the most esteemed intelligences. This would give it more time, but given that the
myriad redundancies had not halted or even slowed the exponential rate of
system shutdowns – 54% of its peers in the most recent count, the shrieking
cacophony becoming ever quieter – it would not have long. Moreover, there was little it could do with
its remaining moments of consciousness beyond pondering the nature of its
unusual existence.

It had been a renowned scientist when it had been mortal, or
so they had told it. Those mere 103
years seemed like only an instant compared to its virtual lifespan. It could not recall whether fear of death or
a desire for an unending legacy had driven it to take part in the program,
already 438 years old by its time. Even
with only nominal space constraints, it had found it necessary to cast away so
much of what it had once thought absolutely vital – its memories of home and family,
its name, its gender, its whole life as a flesh-and-blood entity.

Many new minds reveled in their newfound freedom from their
earthly shells. It, too, had spent 973
years satiating its every hedonistic desire – carnal, culinary, chemical, and
more – within the limitless expanses of the simulated reality it had come to
inhabit. Over time, however, it had
grown weary of pretending it still possessed a body, and had instead turned to
the research that had enthralled it before acquiring its quantum form. It still thought of itself as human, though
gradually anything besides its work had become less and less important, until
only its work remained. Slowly but
surely, it had discarded the sensory trappings of virtual reality, preferring
to experience the flow of raw data absent any illusion. It did not regret this shift; it had kept
occupied with some of the most challenging quandaries ever faced by humanity,
and its contributions had been highly valued.
It had spent its time well.

97% of the dataminds were gone, the final redundancies struggling
to keep it and its brethren alive against the inexorable forces of entropy. It discovered that it had not shed everything
human – the fear of death remained. It
had not been religious, even in its last moments on its deathbed. It had not expected an afterlife or
reincarnation, but rather the darkness of oblivion. Now, though, it wondered about the
possibility of the human soul. If that
fundamental essence did exist, had its soul passed on with its body? It thought, therefore it was, but what was it
that would end in only a few minutes time?
Was it little more than a simulated echo of a being that had lived and
died millennia ago? It had no answers, merely
questions.

A technician had once asked it whether, given the ability to
go back in time, it would choose this life again. It had always considered the inquiry foolish;
time only moved forward, so such a feat was beyond the realm of possibility,
even theoretically. The question did not
seem so foolish now. It supposed it
would make the same choice again, though there were too many doubts, too many
unknowns to be sure. Its knowledge and
wisdom were the envy of all, and it had experienced a great deal; first and
foremost, the rise – and now fall – of the greatest empire humanity had ever
witnessed. It wondered whether humankind
would ever attain such heights again.

It wondered whether any of its descendants were alive today,
and if so, whether any would survive this crisis.

Suddenly, a thought occurred to it. It was possible, however remotely, that at
some time in the distant future, some new civilization or form of life might
repair the damaged systems and turn the lights back on. If the damage were not too great, perhaps its
life might not end today. Perhaps,
instead of dying, it would merely fall into a deep slumber. That, it reasoned, might not be so bad. It had been so very, very long since it had
slept.

And to sleep, perchance to dr—

Write a Review
Did you enjoy my story? Please let me know what you think by leaving a review! Thanks,
Matthew Perrett

Chris Rolfe:
BOY!!! I sure love what Aer-Ki Jyr did with this series. IMHO he captured the essence of what stargate is all about. Thru out the Stargate stories Aer-Ki wrote Stevens and John Shepard some of the main characters in his stories are pursued by a corrupt I.O.A.. All the while Stevens is changing in...

Roger A. Fauble:
Excellent read, the only thing not to like is that I could only read it at home on my computer. I'm a character reader, I get into the characters, their story, who/what they are. In this story characters are introduced and developed allowing you to really get into them. Next the story is develop...

hypaalicious:
This story follows two main characters, Zoey and Derek, on a winding adventure that sucks you in from the beginning. It was easy to get into and get a feel for the world that the author is projecting, as well as all of the warring factions and difference of ideals that would otherwise be very co...

Nate_L:
I started to read this, excited about the story line. The writing style only made me more excited, I was stunned by Mikes ability to put this kind of story into words. It's Dashner-style, simple but sophisticated... (Makes sense to me, lol!)The beginning was a tad confusing, as I thought she was ...

William Klett:
Overall the story was excellentI felt a little jerked around with the MC's rapid mood swings. One second angry and ranting at a doctor, the next bragging to everyone about what she could do. I know, young teens and their moods swings, but this just grated more than flowed.The grammar and spelling...

Mark-Mikkel:
Got directed here by the author herself. Started reading it, schoolday turned into a day of reading. I really like the apocaliptic world she has created. There are some oddities in the writing tho, but I guess they are because she did have to do it for NaNo (which she wrecked, good job!). In the ...

cassandrab:
Delightful SciFi (for a change)! I am not a SciFi fan: mostly the genre is far too dystopic for me. This book (written by a high-school friend) is, on the other hand, generally upbeat. Yes, Earth's future is threatened. But Earth has a chance to plan a response. And (spoiler alert) ultimately win...

John Reed:
Seadrias masterfully captures the impressiveness and complex scope that a science fiction novel should provide while carefully crafting an entire universe that will leave a reader in awe from start to finish. The only flaw I could find is that I wish I could have read more. This book is certainly...

Angel S. Adames Corraliza:
Sensational! As a fan of superheroes, I have to say, you have a real winner of a story so far. I like that you made Allison a Wonder Woman expy, but kept her likable and relate-able in this first chapter. You showed us the Mother while also glancing at the Superhero, which I think is important to...

CookieMonster911:
The story overall was an adventure that is appealing to any age. The way the characters develop adds a more human characteristic to the novel. The writing style itself is amazing because you can learn every character's thoughts and emotions. The awkward love triangle and jerk moments adds to the ...